Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Years in Review: 2006

Low Resolution celebrates the end of the Double-Ohs Decade with a year-by-year retrospective of the movies I watched and (sometimes) loved. All due apologies to Nick Davis and Nathaniel Rogers for co-opting portions of their own decade-end features. I crib with love!

As 2006 came hurtling to its end, I was feeling more than a little dissatisfied. While I had been completely won over by a pair of indies -- the burgeoning juggernaut Little Miss Sunshine and the genre-snatching Brick -- over the summer and had been thoroughly fascinated by The Fountain and charmed by Shortbus in the fall, the year was ending without any movie truly knocking me on my ass. That feeling got blown away most palpably as I sat down to take in Alfonso Cuaaron's Children of Men. Nothing beats that feeling -- that static-charged feeling as you're watching something you know right then is something you'll treasure forever.

It's a good thing, too, because almost the entire crop of Oscar movies that year disappointed me. The Queen was a good movie with a very good Helen Mirren performance but nothing really to talk about, much less nominate for Best Picture. Dreamgirls was inconsistently paced and had uneven performances. The Good Shepherd was largely dull. Flags of our Fathers was abominable. Babel certainly had its virtues but its message felt muddy. As for The Departed...I still find it to be merely adequate, I'm sorry.

The Year in Matt Damon: A career year -- with The Departed and The Good Shepherd -- and I'm still somewhat shocked that Oscar nomination never materialized. Seriously, if he gets his second nomination for Invictus, on which performance's behalf should we be most offended? The Departed? The Informant? The Talented Mr. Ripley? I could keep going. For a while. Before I get to Invictus.

The Year in Tilda Swinton: Another year spent in the cry-freeze for our Tilda. So just this once...

The Year in Cate Blanchett: The decade's other pale-skinned superstar had a busy '06. Still basking in her Oscar afterglow, Cate went with solid awards-bait this year. The results were mixed. Babel succeeded, though her own part in it consisted of a slow bleed-out while Brad Pitt freaked out around her. The Good German just didn't hold together on any level, particularly the chemistry between Cate and co-stars George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. But then there was Notes on a Scandal. Wonderful, histrionic, campy Notes on a Scandal. "HERE I AAAAAAAM!" screamed Cate, and Oscar voters sprinted to her.

Best Theater Experience: Fuck the backlash, I saw Little Miss Sunshine three times in the theater and loved it every time. I know why people piled on that particular backlash -- too bright, too happy, too much dancing -- but I fell in love with that family, from Toni Collette chomping on that popsicle to Greg Kinnear's flailing alpha tendencies, to the look on Steve Carell's face when he realizes how bugnuts the "Superfreak" routine is. I'll stand by that movie any day. Though a special runner-up notice goes to my NYC trip for Thanksgiving, where I was first able to partake of New York's limited releases, in this case seeing The History Boys in Chelsea and Volver in the East Village.

Click below for the best movies of 2006...

My Top 10:1. Children of Men2. Pan's Labyrinth3. A Prairie Home Companion4. Little Miss Sunshine5. Brick6. United 937. Shortbus8. The Fountain9. The Descent10. Inland Empire

My feelings on Pan's Labyrinth are close to my feelings for Return of the King -- loved it intensely after my first viewing, don't have any basis to move it from its lofty perch in my Top 10, and yet ... I don't ever really think about it much. The Pale Man, of course. That image is indelible. Sergi Lopez sewing up his own face. But I've never cared to go back into it. Not that rewatchability is the end-all of this Top 10. I've only seen United 93 the once; The Fountain too. But those movies have blossomed in my memory.

I kind of love what a jumbled mishmash this list is. Prairie's welcoming rhythms, drawing you into the concentric circles of that repertory company, alongside the deliberate impenetrability of Inland Empire. Shortbus and The Fountain and The Descent exploring human isolation from three couldn't-be-more-distinct angles. My radar was pinging all over the map in 2006, and I love that.

Five Films That Have EnduredThe Devil Wears PradaCasino RoyaleDreamgirlsNotes on a ScandalLady in the Water

While rewatchings of Prada haven't made me hate Adrian Grenier's character any less, but the rest of the movie just breezes by. Dreamgirls may not have been my favorite movie, but it's a musical that certainly has its moments, and that Jennifer Hudson thing sure worked out pretty well. I made mention of the operatic lesbo delights of Notes on a Scandal which should be inspiring midnight revivals and cultural referencing well into this decade and beyond. As for Lady in the Water, it endures as an almost unfathomable act of directorial hubris that really must be seen to be believed.

Five Films I Should See AgainThe DepartedStranger Than FictionMarie AntoinetteLetters from Iwo JimaLittle Children

I so hate being the turd in the punchbowl re: The Departed. I suppose I'll keep giving it a shot until it clicks or until the quest drives me off the roof, Martin Sheen-style. I loved Stranger Than Fiction SO passionately, and it was SO resoundingly dismissed by everyone else that something needs reconciling. Iwo Jima perhaps benefitted too much, in my estimation, from NOT being Flags of our Fathers. And Marie-Antoinette and Little Children were both stylized renderings of overly familiar genres that perked my interest but demanded second-looks that got lost to the avalanche of whatever movies came out next. A truth that makes this whole "Movies I Should See Again" conceit feel like a wonderful pipe dream, but I soldier on...

4 comments:

Rbelle
said...

What needs reconciling is how everybody else could be so blind. I absolutely adore Stranger than Fiction, and maybe I somehow fell victim to cheap ploys, or something, but I really don't care. Will Farrell is just great reigning in his usual manic personality, but Emma Thompson totally steals it. It's my favorite performance of hers since Sense and Sensibility, and I like pretty much everything she does. I was so disappointed that this movie got dismissed, but maybe the year only had room for one quirky, well-acted, feel-good movie in Little Miss Sunshine.

I'm also glad to find someone else who was blown away by Children of Men. I know someone who wanted to walk out of the theater after the first five minutes, and others who declared themselves "disappointed" but ... I *genuinely* don't know what they were expecting. The movie delivered what it promised in the previews, but more, and it was funny, and frightening, and just really, really hopeful, in its way. Besides, Clive Owen makes one hot reluctant hero.

Thirding the Stranger Than Fiction love. A wholly underrated flick. Anybody who chalked it up to nothing more than a Charlie Kaufamn rip-off wasn't paying enough attention. The film's a delight. One of my favorite Maggie Gyllenhaal performances, too. "Actually it's my weekly evil-conspiracy and needlepoint group." Love.

I caught half of Pan's Labyrinth on TV (HDTV!) over the holiday and I still love the movie and I still call BALONEY on that movie's haters too, esp. with regards to lil' Ivana Baquero's performance as Ofelia. She breaks my heart every time.

Let me also jump on the Stranger than Fiction band wagon. I absolutely love that movie and have had to watch it every time it was on cable, especially for that one part where Ferrell starts playing the guitar, and its a song Maggie knows and then they start making out and the actual song kicks in. I absolutely love that brilliant scene.

I, too, am a fan of Stranger Than Fiction, partly because I have a thing for movies where the telling of a story affects reality. I don't know how to explain that or if there is a term for it. Movies like Big Fish or Baron Munchausen or The Fall (and sort of The Fountain and Adaptation). Inkheart looked like it might be like that too but it also looked dumb. Is there a way to describe that better? Anyway, I love movies where that happens and I thought Stranger Than Fiction was great.

Recently Viewed

Mission: Impossible - Ghost ProtocolThis was deeply stupid but a LOT of fun. It made me forget how creeped out I am by Tom Cruise, it nailed set piece after set piece, and it took the "A Really Great Episode of Alias" level of M:I 3 to the next step of being "A Really Great Alias Movie." In a year when so many movies just would not stop telling us about the magic of the movies and how films could let us see the impossible, Brad Bird stepped up to the plate and actually showed us. That sequence in Dubai is going to be tough for action movies to top for a long while. And I would honestly nominate it for Costume Design because every single person in that cast looked the most fuckable they ever have, and that's saying something. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton, nice work. B / B+

The Girl with the Dragon TattooZodiac meets Seven without the latter's audacity nor the former's studiousness. OR ... the best season of The Killing ever. As a story, it's a smidge too obvious, and I seriously do think it's episodic enough to have been made into a TV series. And I don't want to get into a Gender Studies thing about Lisbeth -- and I could totally entertain ideas to the contrary -- but to me she was pure male fantasy, if a particularly badass male fantasy. Viewed in that light, the rape scene is less bracingly necessary than luridly opportunistic. But I'm not trying to say I was deeply offended by the movie or anything. It's a fun procedural with compelling actors in the lead roles (how does Daniel Craig's insane sexiness continue to sneak up on me?). Obvious casting in the supporting roles is a drawback, but overall, it was far easier for me to look past the story and appreciate Fincher's frigid aesthetics (that ever-present howling wind!) here than it was in The Social Network. B-

MargaretHere's where 2012 Joe apologizes to 2006 Joe, because I know how frustrating it is to live in the parts of America that just don't get limited-release indie movies that we get in New York. Because I complained and complained about not getting to see Margaret, and ultimately, it was put back into theaters and I got to take advantage of my incredibly fortunate geography to see it. Of course, after weeks and weeks of #teamMargaret, I was worried I'd been oversold on the movie, that I would walk out not getting what all the fuss was about. I'm happy to say I DO get what the fuss was about. It's not a perfect movie, but it packs a punch. The moment that drives the film -- a first-act bus accident that costs Allison Janney her life -- is legitimately harrowing, and it makes total sense that this would be traumatic enough to drive the plot of this sprawling tale (and to stand in for 9/11 when the movie's allegorical needs make it necessary). Anna Paquin's performance as a girl whose self-centeredness is almost feral is a marvel (and it connects a lot of dots for the way she's been playing Sookie on True Blood, to be honest). And the supporting cast is full of great performances and teen actors who would go on to become A Thing in the five years since this movie was made. Believe the hype about Jeannie Berlin's performance, too. She doesn't show up until halfway through, but her every line reading (which range from hilarious to scathing) is a winner, and she and Paquin make for one of the more fascinating screen duos in recent history. Lonergan has significant pacing issues in the latter half -- and my ass he couldn't find any scenes to cut; there are whole subplots and characters (Jean Reno; Matt Damon) who could have been trimmed and/or set aside for a director's cut -- but the script and the actors rarely step wrong. Here is a movie that bites off a lot of big ideas, about responsibility, about the limits of hanging meaning on the meaningless, and how Upper West Side teens can be just as monstrous and insufferable as their east-side counterparts. Also, if every five years we could get a new movie starring the 2005 version of Matt Damon, that would be just fine. Yum. B+

PariahThere's going to be a danger of overpraising this low-budget indie for being a low-budget indie, and for being about the kinds of characters and environments you don't usually get, even in low-budget indies. When it comes to black, teenage lesbians in lower-middle-class families in non-hipster Brooklyn, we're not exactly spoiled for choice, so for that alone, Pariah SHOULD be celebrated. And it's a very good movie, on its own terms. Adpero Oduye makes for a magnetic and fascinating lead, and the movie lets her life be about a lot of different things at once. Teen movies have a particular tendency to reduce their characters' pressures to just one thing, but Oduye has to deal with coming out and fears over her parents' crumbling marriage, and strained best-friend relationships, and a lot more. It's not a perfect movie -- some of the dialogue feels heavy and scripted, and I don't think Kim Wayans is all that great as the mom. But overall, it's really solid (and not nearly the suffocating bummer I've heard it described as). B

ShameIt's maybe ever-so-slightly more an acting showcase for Michael Fassbender than a cinematic masterpiece, but who's going to complain about settling for very, very good? McQueen digs deep into Fassbender's sex addict character in a way that's explicit but not salacious, and ultimately the joke's on us, because he really puts us into the mindset of a tormented guy unable to forge any kind of human connections. It's quite something. I could go on for about 10 more lines worth of prurient concerns (honestly, Fassbender is 30% penis by volume, I'd swear to it), and one fairly story-based quibble (McQueen really pusses out at the gay club), but for the most part, it's a total must-see. B+

The Week in TV:

Fringe (5/6)I have to say, this left me largely unsatisfied. Not the part about Peter at the end -- I'm confident that's going to get resolved in a way that'll open up season 4 in a big way. But that's actually part of my real problem: this whole episode didn't feel like a conclusion to everything Season 3 has built to but rather a beginning for the next arc. But without satisfyingly resolving what had been built up this season. Like we got an epilogue and a springboard into the next chapter without the actual climax. So much of this episode was spent trying to unbox everything we were presented in the flash-forward that by the time the actual action went down, we had less than 10 minutes to advance the plot in any real way. Still love the show, still think Anna Torv has had a breakthrough season, but this was a definite letdown.

Parks and Recreation (5/5)How does this show do it? What for all intents and purposes seemed like a purely goofy, guest-star-driven episode with Parker Posey as Leslie's rich-town nemesis (with a b-story about Ron Swanson desperately trying to avoid a birthday celebration in his honor) managed to arrive at no fewer than three emotional high-points. Not one of them felt like cheap sentiment, either, they were completely earned and true to the characters. That Leslie/Ron birthday scene was set up so slyly, it was like the twist ending of a thriller. This is what a show can do when it's built on such a strong foundation of characters. Well fucking done.

30 Rock (5/5)What a weird episode, with a random Kenneth moment at the end that I'd almost buy as an actual plot point considering how well it's supported by several seasons of "Kenneth is ageless" jokes. Liz being tormented by Tracy was funny, if honestly sad, and Jenna works best when opposite Will Forte. But really, this was all about Victor Garber, for me. Kudos to the show for nabbing such a great guest star for such a fun role -- I don't know why "wool" is so comedy-friendly a concept, but it just is. It's very wool.RuPaul's Drag Race (5/2)Not as explosive as past seasons' reunions -- the Shangela-Raven feud seems to be at least nominally active, but neither seemed all that invested in propagating it. ...Well, Shangela was, kind of. But besides one more tired rehash of the Heather vs. Boogers battle (my stance: the Heathers were throwing shade like good queens should; the Boogers took it personally because they're insecure and not seasoned; advantage: Heathers), and Alexis Mateo made a lame attempt to shame Michelle Visage for actually judging her, but mostly it was just a rehash of the season's big moments. The big story for me was confirmation that my love for Mariah was not misguided. She may have been eliminated for fully supportable reasons (she didn't have the chops when it came to performance), but she showed up with a killer face and a sparkling attitude. See you on Drag U, girl!

Game of Thrones (5/1)Damn it, Game of Thrones! You got me hooked last week with that sweet scene of Jon Snow gifting his lil' sister with a sword. Why won't you just let me love you?? This week's episode took two steps forward (Catelyn continues to be a character worth cheering for; Jaime Lannister suddenly has layers beyond the clichéd sister-fucking), but then two steps back with even more tedious political hoo-ha, more indistinguishable characters, and more of Joffrey and Vinerys, possibly the most one-dimensional characters on television. On the bright side, I really think that child-bride sex slave and her hulking rape-monster of a husband are gonna make it!